


Izumi Week 2016

by HenryMercury



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: A little indulgence of my favourite trope:, Alternate Universe, Dad Zuko, Different relationships in each one though, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family, Family Feels, Funeral, Gen, Grief, Hair, Identity, Knights - Freeform, Matchmaker Kya, Sexual Humor, Standalone ficlets for Izumi Week, Tinder, Tyzuki OT3 fluff in the first one because I do what I want really, more relationships/characters/tags as I go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-02 04:49:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6551686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HenryMercury/pseuds/HenryMercury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 1: Several years after her exile, Suyin is coming to visit the Fire Nation. Izumi assumes there'll be trouble. (Ft. Tyzuki)<br/>Day 2: Kya discovers some interesting reading material on Izumi's bookshelf. (Kya/Izumi)<br/>Day 3: Family, in times of grief.<br/>Day 4: Izumi wants to cut her hair.<br/>Day 5: Kya signs Izumi and Lin up to that Fire Nation dating app, Tinder. They meet to complain about it. (Izumi/Lin)<br/>Day 6: Two knights attempt to rescue Princess Izumi from a castle guarded by a dragon. (Kya/Lin/Izumi)<br/>Day 7: Izumi and Lin catch up in a bar. A random dude does not excel at flirting with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One: Girls' Night Out

The letter is not from the Beifong sister Izumi expects.

She knocks on the door of her aunts' chamber and waits, fidgeting with the paper in her hand until it slices the side of her finger. It's not the first unpleasant feeling this letter has dealt her.

Ty Lee opens the door. She's in her white silk robe, cloth in hand, one eye freshly cleaned of makeup while the other waits its turn. She smiles warmly at Izumi, and Izumi does her best to smile back as she is ushered inside.

Suki is sitting in the far corner, working on the new and intricate set of fans she showed Izumi when she arrived in the capital a few days ago. Azula lounges diagonally across the suite's expansive bed, her presence (as well as the pile of paperwork she's sorting through) managing to occupy the entire mattress even if her physical frame doesn't come close to doing so. She looks up from her work and observes her niece over the top of her reading glasses.

"What's wrong?" she asks, blunt but still sounding very much at ease, the way she only ever is when Suki and Ty Lee are around.

Izumi's heard things said about those who entertain more than one partner at a time, but what she's always seen in her aunts is three of the most feared women in the global political landscape becoming alarmingly domestic and mellow upon combination.

Izumi holds out the letter for Azula to see.

"I thought it was going to be from Lin," she explains. "But instead it's Su, saying she'll be here in a few days and she wants us to go for a drink. I know she won't take no for an answer."

"Suyin Beifong," Azula mutters. "Interesting that she should want to visit _you_ in particular. You've never been friends, have you?"

"Why would anyone not want to visit Izumi?" Ty Lee pipes up, an attempt to soften her partner's words. It's unnecessary, however; Azula is right, and the lack of friendship between Izumi and Suyin has always gone both ways. Suyin is reckless and insensitive, and Izumi has long avoided her both for fear of what might come of their association and out of faithfulness to Lin, who _is_ her good friend.

"It's been several years since Toph sent her away," says Suki. "She might have changed. People are capable of that."

Azula huffs. Suki blows her a kiss.

"But what if she hasn't? She was involved with _triads_ —and if she couldn't be held responsible for it back in Republic City, what can we do if she causes trouble here? It'd be no good to start some international incident but the rule of law is of paramount importance—"

"You might be overthinking it." Ty Lee has finished removing her makeup. She comes and wraps a comforting hand around Izumi's shoulders. "She just said she wanted to get drinks."

But what does _drinks_ mean to a wild child like Suyin? What kind of entertainment is required in order to hold her interest? The only alcohol Izumi's even consumed in her life has been at family or state dinners.

"It _is_ always wise to be prepared for the worst when receiving unwanted visitors."

Ty Lee shoots Azula a warning glance.

Izumi doesn't know what venues are fashionable when it comes to her own city's nightlife. It's a field in which she's entirely inexperienced, and she's sure Su will smell it on her.

"We can train tomorrow morning if it'll help you feel better," Suki offers.

 

Izumi never lasts long against her aunts—not when they're fighting as a team. It's only when they're distracted trying to upstage each other that she ever manages to take any of them down. There's no shame in this, she knows; few are those who could do any better.

While chi-blocking is Ty Lee's signature, any of the three will use the technique if she lets them close enough. Suki's blunt practice sword keeps at least one of her hands too busy to do so, but presents an entirely different problem. Izumi dodges a swing just in time, bends a little fire to aid her in rolling smoothly out of Suki's reach, and then Azula blasts in to land right in front of her, much too close for comfort as she executes a swift kick and blue light almost blinds Izumi. She breaks the flame but doesn't have time to retaliate with any firebending of her own before someone taps her firmly on the shoulder and she realises with a sinking feeling that she's completely lost track of Ty Lee's position. She accepts her defeat.

"Can't you all just come along too?" Izumi complains as she catches her breath. "Keep Su in check?"

"You know, you _are_ allowed to have fun tonight," Suki tells her. "And you don't want your aunts tagging along for that. You know Azula's terrible in social situations."

"That must be where I get it from," Izumi laughs bitterly.

"You get it from your father," Azula snaps. "If you need a way out, simply start a fire somewhere in the venue. It will have to be evacuated and you will be nothing less than a hero for insisting that everyone cease their revelry."

Ty Lee rolls her eyes. "Or you can just suggest that you get some fresh air. Find a street with a park or a fountain. Walking around the city at night can be lovely."

"So long as you watch out for creeps."

"Creeps on the street is the one part of this whole plan I'm confident I can handle."

 

"Well, there's Chan's," Izumi says, the words rushing out of her mouth as though sheer speed will make her sound more knowledgeable. She's made some inquiries but the fact remains she's never passed an evening at any of these establishments. "It's mostly a bar but they have good food too, sometimes some dancing. Otherwise, if you were more interested in the dancing aspect, there are a few clubs in the next street over that might appeal. I have to ask that we not venture _too_ far down that street, however. There are places I just can't bear the thought of explaining my presence in to the press, you understand—"

"Izumi," Suyin says, holding up a hand to temper her rambling. "Please, I don't mind where we go. I've seen all kinds of bars and restaurants, across this nation and the others. I've been on the road for a long time. I'm not here to see the party district, I'm here to see you."

There's a small smile on Suyin's face that's far more earnest than Izumi's expecting. Something in it is wistful, almost bashful.

Izumi is caught up in a wave of relief at Su's declaration, but also one of confusion.

"Why?" she asks. "Surely it can't be for old times' sake."

Su grins. "No," she says. "We don't exactly have that kind of history, do we? I'm not here about history, but the opposite. I... know you and Lin were always close."

Izumi just waits. She can't predict where this is going at all; Su doesn't look like she wants Izumi to mirror her frustrations with her sister. Su has to know that Izumi wouldn't do that.

"I was wondering whether... well, you've always been a sensible sort of person, much like Lin. I'm here because I've been trying to contact her, but she won't hear from me. I've written letters, I've found payphones on my way and tried both home and the station. I don't want to ask you to intervene on my behalf—"

In Izumi's opinion, she says this as though she really _does_ , but that doesn't matter; Izumi will hold her to this declaration if she turns around and asks for what she claims not to want.  

"I just want advice on how I might approach her. How to convince her I've changed."

Izumi looks at her for a long moment. There's nothing on her face to suggest that she's not telling the truth. Izumi knows how much Su hurt Lin when she was younger, but she also knows that her being away prolongs that hurt. The hurt she's caused is something Su needs to acknowledge, to actually understand and make amends for, if she's going to convince Lin to let her back into her life. But the process of making amends isn't impossible. Her whole life Izumi has watched her nation, guided by her father, going through this process. She's not sure Suyin will be able to cope with the necessary swallowing of pride, but it's not Izumi's place to stop her trying.

"I'll tell you what I think," Izumi offers. "But it's no quick conversation. Let's get a bite to eat and talk."

Suyin springs forward and hugs her. "Thanks," she says. "Hey, where sells the _hottest_ food around here? I want to challenge the one-day Fire Lord to a battle of the spices."

"Around here you can add dragon peppers, fire flakes and hot sauce to your meal wherever you go," answers Izumi. It doesn't take a seasoned restaurant-goer to know that.

Izumi says nothing to warn Suyin about how foolish a challenge she's just issued—simply continues walking down the street with her, comfortable in the knowledge that what's ahead won't be so far outside her comfort zone after all.


	2. Day Two: Sexytime

"It has a pale blue cover."

Kya holds the phone between her jaw and her shoulder, listening to Izumi's voice as she searches through the little library on their dorm room desk.

"Tell me again why you need me to find you quotes from your poli-sci textbook while you're away on holiday? You should be calling to tell me you miss me and to tempt me into phone sex, not this."

"I'm having a debate with Dad. I know there's a paragraph in there that'll help me win."

Kya pulls out the first pale blue book she spots. The cover is sky blue with navy twirling through it in inky patterns, coalescing in the centre in the shape of—

_Oh._

"This isn't what I expected to find one your shelf, Zumes."

"What?"

"It's called _The Waterbending Mistress_. Ring any bells?"

Kya knows one kind of Izumi-silence from the next, and the one she's hearing now is telling.

"Can you see the book called _Postcolonialism and the United Republic_?" Izumi asks at last, but she sounds resigned. She knows Kya too well to expect her not to look more into the discovery she's just made.

Kya flicks to a random page and starts reading.

_she slides the piece of ice across my burning skin and it leaves little shiny trails everywhere it goes, like my body's been traversed by a hundred snails. I'm slick, wet in every sense of the word_

"Snails," Kya repeats aloud in disbelief.

"What are you on about?"

"This book is _bad_ , babe. Does the thought of being covered in snails really turn you on? I want to make you happy, but I'm not sure there's room in our relationship for masses of slimy gastropods."

"Oh, spirits, whatever you're reading, it's just a metaphor," Izumi groans. She's going bright red in the face, Kya just knows it.

She's having too much fun not to skim through some more.

"I'm not sure waterbending to make a girl squirt is very safe," she comments as she goes. "Besides, you know I don't _need_ to—"

"Kya, please. I have to get back to the dinner table."

_the liquid tendrils wind their way around my limbs like octopus arms. Then, in a flash of vibrant sensation, they freeze in place. My wrists and ankles are held in cuffs as unyielding as metal and much, much colder. I couldn't move an inch even if I wanted to. But with the way she looks down at me, the shivering mess I am, the fire in her eyes is much hotter than any flame I've ever bent. I want nothing more than to let her warm me back up with it as she strips me of all my remaining clothing and_

"You know, if there's anything you wanna try, you shouldn't be afraid to ask me," Kya says.

"Unless it involves snails," Izumi seems to have moved past the point of embarrassment and now her driest humour is showing through. Kya loves that sass, loves being the one who manages to coax it out even if the joke's on her.

"No snails," Kya agrees. "But there are plenty of creative things we could do."

Pause. "Like?"

"Like..." Kya's got something on Izumi here, so why shouldn't she offer up a fantasy or two of her own? "You know how people in teen movies are always breaking into public pools at night?"

"We can't do that, Kya, the college would expel us if they found out."

"I'm just giving an example, alright? Nobody can expel us for _imagining_ it. Are you with me?"

"Okay."

"So picture us at the pool near the gym, except it's dark and completely deserted. It's so quiet that I can kiss you and hear every tiny breathy sound you make bouncing off the walls. We strip off and jump in, and it's a little on the cold side but you can warm it up to the perfect temperature."

 _Get to the point, Kya_ , she thinks as she keeps narrating the little movie she's seeing in her head. It's harder that expected to improvise something that requires setup. More complicated than just talking dirty.

"If I focus hard enough on the water I can feel every inch of your body in detail, touch it all at the same time. I can send colder currents sliding across your skin to feel you shudder. I can keep them stroking over you even while I slip my hand down between your legs to—"

"It'd have to be unhygienic to do that in the gym pool," Izumi interrupts. Kya notes with satisfaction that she sounds a little breathless. Izumi has always had a vivid imagination.

"Can't you let a fantasy be a fantasy? I'm just trying to give you something good to think about while you're off on the other side of the country."

"I understand, but—"

"I wouldn't have to freeze the water to be able to hold you in place. I'd have you surrounded in every direction, completely immersed—"

"—I really have to get back to dinner. Don't worry about the poli-sci book."

Kya sighs. "Will you call me later?"

"Yes," Izumi says definitively.

"To finish what we just started?"

"Yes. I suggest you use the time between now and then to get something _good_ prepared."

Kya smiles despite there being no way for Izumi to see it. She leans back on her bed and starts from page one of _The Waterbending Mistress_. It's just for inspiration. A starting point. Kya can and will do _much_ better.


	3. Day Three: Sadness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've already posted some [sad Kyazumi](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5690875), this is a different thing altogether.

Ty Lee dies a week before she and Azula are supposed to retired to Ember Island together.

Izumi has been fortunate, hasn't lost someone this close to her before—aside from her great uncle, who lives on in the spirit world. Ty Lee doesn't live on anywhere, not as herself. It's like a hole has been ripped in the fabric of everything Izumi's ever known.

When Azula stands to speak at the funeral, there's a horrible moment of silence. Izumi feels it intensely, feels like it's squeezing her, trying to pull her insides out in the most unceremonious manner possible.

She knows her aunts didn't have the simplest relationship, and their work often kept them apart. Azula was at all times the most whip-smart, quick-witted person Izumi knew as a child—but the more she watched her other aunt come and go, the more Izumi saw it. The change in Azula whenever Ty Lee flew up from Kyoshi Island was subtle but crucial; it was like Azula's eyes focused, suddenly, once they landed on her partner.

Izumi feels that her composure is under siege, even sitting here in the audience. She can only hope she'll be as strong as her aunt when she herself is required to perform such task as a eulogy. The air of the place feels dark. The one who brought bright cheer with her everywhere she went is no longer around.

Azula clears her throat as though readying herself to speak, but another several moments pass without her making an attempt. Izumi can see from here in the first row that there's a shocked wildness in her eyes. The look a person gets when they realise they've been dealt a sudden, fatal wound. It's how Izumi feels, too, she's just been given the luxury of feeling it under a lesser spotlight.

Someone, one of the nobles a row or two behind Izumi, whispers,

 _See, Ty Lee really was the only thing holding her together_.

Izumi almost stands, almost knocks over her chair and challenges him to an agni kai right then and there. This hotheadedness is another symptom of her grief, and she reins it in before she can do anything rash, but the rage still simmers there, wanting to be let out. She glances over her shoulder to note the identity of the nobleman who spoke.

Izumi doesn't know whether her aunt hears the comment too or just senses judgment in the room, but a moment later a laugh is splitting out of her like a crack in a dam. Izumi holds her breath.

"I have to be going," Azula declares. She lets out another cackle and the edges of her involuntary smile begin to turn down. She walks off with the utmost dignity, Izumi thinks; it is not an easy thing to hold together pieces which are violently fracturing apart, to speak coherently and walk sedately.

Still the whispers in the audience seem to decide otherwise. Izumi focuses on her breathing for a few beats, the methodical inhale and exhale the only thing pushing her tears back. She looks down at her feet where they rest on red carpet and she wants to set it alight, take down every person in here who dares to think ill of a woman farewelling the one she loves most. Izumi has been reminded every day of her life how important it is never to act on such violent impulses, how few things are ever worth the use of violence, and how, in the excepted cases, it should only be employed after great consideration as a last resort.

Izumi's grieving anger burns and the tears clogging up her head boil and she stands, leaves the hall in the same direction her aunt went. Izumi justifies her leaving with the fact that if she goes, her father won't feel as though he has to check on his sister.

She sees the shaking figure hunched against the side of the nearest building. Azula's body shakes, and Izumi hears wheezing breaths. They sound sharp, painful, and the moment Izumi's empathy reaches out so she feels not only Ty Lee's loss but Azula's pain over it too, it's all over and the sadness spills out. The sound of the dam wall bursting is a sob Izumi can't hold back, a heavy wet breath that drags in and out of her lungs about as easily as mud.

"Auntie," she says. She hasn't called Azula this in years, but something about it feels right today. She has been reduced to her inner child, a creature in pain, needing the most basic of things. Comfort. Family.

"What if they're right?" Azula asks. The words are thin, precarious. "What if for all my decades of trying I've never grown past what I was at sixteen? What if she wasted her life on me—I apologise, I shouldn't be asking you that—"

Izumi knows what her aunt did during the war. It's no secret, and Izumi's made no secret of her disapproval of those actions—but she's never known Azula to stand by them, either. As Izumi has known her, her aunt has never seemed anything like the person in the stories. She's been intelligent and skilled, certainly, but she's only ever been fiercely protective of the peace that Izumi's father established. Very much like Izumi herself.

"Those people in there are full of dragonshit," she says, channelling all her anger into the expletive.

Azula gasps out a laugh that seems to come from genuine amusement. "A colourful way of putting it."

"You're allowed to feel overwhelmed, today of all days. It doesn't mean you're not strong, and perfectly in your right mind, and it definitely doesn't mean she shouldn't have loved you like she did. If it meant that, you'd have to believe I've lost my grip too."

Azula reaches for Izumi's hand and grips it tightly. "Do you want to find something more fun to do? Forget about the people in there?" she asks. "I believe that's what Ty Lee would suggest."

"Sounds good."


	4. Day Four: Tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like in the Fire Nation royal family 'tea' encompasses all things to do with wisdom and symbolic identity stuff, so while the actual tea-drinking is incidental in this piece I like to think it's still at the heart of what this is about.

The desire to cut her hair comes on suddenly when Izumi is fifteen. There are three reasons for it.

The first is a visit to Republic City. She arrives to find Lin with new scars on her face, and Kya with a freshly shaven head. The latter change is a protest, Izumi gathers—some effort on Kya's part to remind her father that Tenzin isn't the only one who's half Air Nomad. Tenzin, who is walking around with still-tender tattoos all over his body.

It all makes Izumi feel like she's been the same forever. Unexciting.

The second reason is a pair of older girls she sees walking down the street arm in arm. At first glance she thinks one of them is a boy, with short hair that looks almost like a water tribe wolftail. The other's hair ends in a sharp, angled bob just below her ears. It's a new style that's been catching on in Republic City, a bold style, something that speaks of confidence and individuality. Izumi wants those things for herself. But hair that short wouldn't hold her crown.

The third reason is the visiting Earth Kingdom minister who thinks he has enough power to dare stroke a hand through her hair as they converse after the first international trade meeting Izumi has been given to oversee on her own.

"You're growing into quite the princess," remarks Minister Chin. "But you should still leave political affairs to the adults."

She leaves the room fuming, wanting to hack off every strand Chin's big sweaty hand touched.

"It's his hand that should be cut off, not your hair," her aunt says when Izumi expresses this reasoning to her. "You could theoretically ask for his head."

"I'd never fuel more conflict between our nations over something so small."

Azula stands close to Izumi, allowing her to feel the comforting presence without initiating any touch of her own. Izumi appreciates that. Though she doesn't always choose to do so, Azula understands how to tread carefully around people who are hurting.

"What you let people get away with is how they will think they are entitled to act. I know you're too much my brother's daughter to seek a physical punishment for this disrespect," she smiles kindly, "but that doesn't mean we can't destroy him."

Azula sends for tea and they spend a few hours drafting letters to tug at various diplomatic strings. Izumi feels much better afterwards.

So maybe there are only two reasons for it, not three, but the desire to cut her hair remains. She wants a change. She wants to feel like she really gets to control who she is, at least for a little while.

She tells her mother, who slips out one of the blades she always keeps in her sleeve and hands it to Izumi.

"Do it if you want to," she says. "I'm not going to force you to behave a certain way just for appearances' sake. Besides, you've always been responsible on your own. Trust yourself, Izumi."

It's not the simple _yes_ or _no_ guidance Izumi wants.

"What if people don't think it's fitting..."

"There will be people who don't like it. There will be people who do. You're the Princess and there will always be consequences to every choice you make, however trivial. But in the end _you_ are the leader. They can't depose you for a hairstyle—if they could your father would never have been allowed to rule. And I guarantee there'll be people all across the capital copying whatever style you choose."

Izumi speaks to her father last. She takes him his favourite tea and a bowl of fire flakes to compensate for interrupting him in his office.

"The crown won't fit if I can't tie it up," she explains to him as she pours the tea for them both. It's her biggest concern. The duty of a princess is to provide a suitable head for that crown.

He ponders the problem for a moment, as he always does when asked for guidance. Then he reaches up and pulls the Fire Lord's crown out of his own hair.

"Am I still the Fire Lord?" he asks her as he lays it on the desk between them.

She humours him with a nod.

"When I was your age I did all kinds of things to my hair," he begins, and Izumi laughs because she's heard all the stories already.

"I know, Dad."

"It was all part of a journey—the journey to becoming the truest version of myself. You're young; you have plenty of time to follow your different instincts and see where they lead you and what you can learn. Being a good Fire Lord is about what's in your head, not what's on top of it."

A moment goes by as they both crunch mouthfuls of fire flakes.

"Now, how did you want to cut it? I can help if you like. I've got experience."

"No, Dad," Izumi stops him before he gets too excited. "No—but thank you."


	5. Day Five: Awkward Turtleducks

"You really should get back out there."

"Really?" Izumi gives Kya a look.

She'd thought that Kya of all people would understand her decision not to pursue any new romantic involvement. At first it'd been out of grieving her late husband, not wanting to feel like she was trying to fill a gap in her life that was reserved for memorialising. Now it's just out of busyness; lack of desire to spend all that time trying to get to know someone who may well turn out to be a bad investment; lack of desire to put herself in the kinds of awkward situations that come with seeking out a new lover.

Izumi's always counted herself lucky to have friends who understood what it was like to be single ( _more or less_ , in Kya's case, and _more_ in Lin's) at their stage in life. She's constantly fielding _that question_ from everyone else. From a few individuals with particularly poor taste, those inquiries had started _at the wake_.

"Why not?" Kya shrugs. "You don't have to hunt for a second marriage. Just talk to some new people, have some fun."

Izumi pushes her glasses back up her nose where they've slipped out of place.

"I understand that for you, that's a simple enough undertaking," she says, "but you know me better than that, Kya. I tend to be... closed. Awkward. I'm not comfortable with putting myself out there the way you are. I see little 'fun' in it at all."

"It's all practice," replies Kya. "I promise. Practice and maybe some alcohol. But nowadays the dating game's skewed in favour of those awkward turtleducks who don't fancy asking strangers in bars for their numbers, you know. Things have changed since our twenties."

Izumi's hardly unaware of the technological developments. She knows about the dating sites and phone applications. Tinder, the wildly successful fire nation invention which has since spread like wildfire across the four nations. She's heard of it all. She's never been tempted to try it. Signing up for something like that would be too much like admitting she wants something, and she's not convinced she does.

"I'm going to make you a profile," Kya declares. She has that look in her eye that she gets once she's set her heart on doing something, and Izumi knows the easiest solution is to let her have this. Besides, if she doesn't sign up to the app herself, it doesn't really count.

Begrudgingly, she passes her phone over and waits nervously as Kya plugs in all kinds of personal information.

"There," she's given her phone back at last. Kya smile is wide and bright with victory. "Promise me you'll make an effort, if anyone does take your fancy? Even Lin said she'd do that much."

 _That_ information jolts through Izumi like an electric shock. "You convinced _Lin_ to do this?"

"Sure did. She took a little more sweet talking, sure, but you'll find her profile on there if you look in the right places."

"You're a dirty liar."

Kya smirks. "Dirty, but no liar."

 

As soon as she's left alone, Izumi calls Lin up. It's a quicker way to verify Lin's involvement in all this than poking around in the unfamiliar world of Tinder.

"Beifong," Lin answers the phone gruffly.

"Lin."

"Kya's forced her dating sorcery on you too, then?"

"She really did get to you?" Izumi's eyes widen, even as there's no one there to see the expression. "What in the four nations has she got on you, Lin? Did you murder someone and cover it up?"

"No," Lin grumbles, "it's not blackmail—though murder did become tempting when she stole my phone and installed this junk on it. She's just belligerent, that's all. I was too damn tired to fight it."

It's understandable. It's the same story as Izumi's, really.

"That and she promised to stop bringing drugs into Republic City if I went on one actual date."

Bribery. Not blackmail, but a close enough cousin to it. Izumi's instincts haven't lost their edge after all.

"And have you? Gone on a date."

"Not yet."

Izumi knows Lin will do it, even if she makes the encounter wholly unpleasant for her companion. There's nothing Lin hates more than looking the other way, and even if most of Kya's herbs _are_ for medicine, Izumi knows Lin's always felt like she's not doing her duty.

"Don't know how I'm going to find someone who wants to go out with me, anyway," Lin sighs. "Workaholic; other interests include holding grudges against family for upwards of twenty years."

Izumi laughs gently. "You know you're more than that, Lin. But I do see your problem—I mean, what could I write about myself, honestly? Everything in my life revolves around governing my nation, and anything that's not is a desperate attempt to catch a wink of sleep every so often."

"Oh, who wouldn't want to go on a date with the _Fire Lord?_ "

"That only makes it more complicated; they may show up for the Fire Lord, but will they stay for Izumi?"

"Anyone with eyes and half a brain," Lin blazes on without a pause. It's reassuring, coming from her. Izumi can count on it to be honesty, not platitudes.

"You know, it's been some time since we spoke in person. I'd very much like to catch up with you."

There's a thoughtful noise at the other end of the line.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lin asks.

It hadn't been Izumi's intention, but Lin's question pulls her easily onto the same page.

"We're both on the app, so it would count, wouldn't it?"

"No stupid icebreakers or showing up and finding our date is nothing like we expected."

 

They pick a place called Fuong & Ban, an earth-and-fire fusion restaurant in Republic City. It's upmarket—not as exclusive as Kwong's Cuisine, but closer to it than to casual spots like Narook's Seaweed Noodlery. Izumi's been meaning to try it out for some time but hasn't had the chance; Lin agrees to it because she can take snaps of a fancy dinner spread and give them to Kya as irrefutable evidence that she's gone out of her way for a dinner date.

And that's what it's really beginning to feel like, as they make their way to one of the private booths in the back.

Lin's dressed in green—Izumi recognises the outfit as the one she wore to Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding. She's dressed it down tonight, with her usual tight hairstyle, no makeup or jewellery. Even so, Lin looks different in coloured fabric than she does in grey metal. It softens her face, brings out the green in her eyes. It's a flattering look—not that her uniform isn't. With the pressures of ruling on her, Izumi understands more than most the allure of someone who looks solid and strong and ready to escort you safely through even the roughest times.

"You look nice, by the way," Lin says, a little stilted but genuine, as she looks over Izumi's red dress. It's a long, shapely thing with a split up one leg, no sleeves, a high neckline. It's probably too much for this occasion, but she likes it and hasn't had a chance to wear it out before, it not exactly being state-dinner-appropriate.

"Thank you," Izumi smiles. "As do you."

Lin makes a strange little sound, like she hadn't been expecting the compliment, and like she's mentally deflecting it as small-talking nonsense. Izumi knows very well that looking pretty doesn't rate highly on the list of things Lin cares about in life, but it still feels wrong that her friend could be dismissive of her own looks when Izumi looks at her and sees such good things inside _and_ out; things anyone would be lucky to have in a partner.

"I mean it, Lin," she stresses.

"Whatever you say."

Izumi doesn't push it. This date is only for show, after all. It's just, she thinks, if it wasn't she'd probably be happy with that too. It's nice to be out, doing something other than working, with someone whose company she enjoys.

The food is good, and so is the wine, and Izumi almost trips over the small step at the exit as they leave. A strong hand catches her forearm and pulls her back upright before she can fall and make a fool of herself. When she looks over at Lin, Lin shows no sign of even acknowledging what's just happened.

"I swear I didn't have _that_ much to drink," Izumi says, more flustered than she ought to be, having trained in regal composure since birth. And it's true; Lin knocked back most of the bottle they shared between them. It's something else that has Izumi off-balance.

"I'll walk you back to your hotel," Lin decides firmly, and Izumi allows it.

The night air is lovely and smooth at this time of year; soothingly lukewarm after a hot day, soft without being unbearably humid. This is Republic City's summer, but it reminds her of the springtime at home.

"I had fun tonight," she muses. "We haven't talked like that in a while."

Something about the setting had made talk of work feel out of place. Instead, Izumi had reached back into her memory for a common thread to pull at, and they'd ended up reminiscing about when they were teenagers running around the City.

"We took on so much responsibility even then," Lin had said. "Some days I regret that, even if I can't imagine myself doing it any differently given another shot."

Another shot at life, at a different path, is a fantasy Izumi doesn't entertain with any seriousness, though she has always thought about it. She can't imagine anyone being born to a role and never trying to imagine what might have been within reach had they not been. There's no going back and undoing any of the life she's already lived, just as there's no undoing the history that stands behind her family. There is only acceptance, the making of any necessary amends, and the prevention of those same mistakes in future.

Her hand brushes Lin's as they walk and the contact is electric. Izumi's mind sticks on the thought of it, the thought of what it might be like to take Lin's hand deliberately. There's no use in questioning what could have been, but there's every reason to question what still could be. Just because Izumi would be content not to bring another romantic relationship into her life doesn't mean she wouldn't be content if she decided to...

"Lin," she says, because there's no time like the present, "if you wanted to, I'd like to do this again sometime."

Lin stops walking. For a moment Izumi thinks she's panicked her, scared her away, but then she looks up and sees the entrance to her hotel right in front of them.

"Kya's never going to let us hear the end of it," is Lin's response, and Izumi buzzes with something she hasn't felt in a long time. Excitement, new and nervous and hungry to explore.

"That's not a no," she points out.

"No it isn't," Lin says.

She picks up Izumi's hand, the same one that had brushed hers before, and Izumi finds herself holding her breath as Lin presses a light kiss to the tops of her knuckles. Afterwards, Lin's eyes skitter around the ground, her brows furrowed like she's interrogating herself roughly over the whole action.

Izumi smiles, in part to let Lin know that it's okay, it's more than okay, and in part because she'd have a hard time stopping the expression spreading over her face if she tried.


	6. Day Six: AU

Izumi can hear them arguing outside the entrance to the castle.

_No,_ I'm _going to slay the dragon!_

_No, I am._

_Dragons breathe fire, Lin. Water beats fire._

_I don't need water if I can tie the damn thing up with metal. Besides, this entire castle is made of stone._

_Surrounded by a mote of what, Lin? That's right—water._

Izumi looks out the window of the tower she calls her bedroom. If they're in earshot they must be nearly into the central courtyard. Sure enough, two knights trot in on their horses. One is clad in chain mail and blue, the other in heavier metal armour, all grey, though her horse is draped in yellowy-green.

Izumi's never had a lady knight come for her before. Perhaps one or both of these two will be interesting enough to draw her out. The way they rib each other so easily makes Kya wonder whether something intimate exists between them. This is certainly a change. (Izumi's had suitors who chose the rescue-a-trapped-princess approach because it was easier than simply asking a woman to dinner.)

Since she has intriguing visitors today, she puts on her gold-stitched red silk robe and sharp-toed boots. She brushes knots from her hair for a minute or two, watches and listens while the knights look around.

_So where do you think the dragon is?_ one of them asks.

_Don't you think I'd tell you if I'd seen something?_

Izumi breathes out a little stream of smoke in anticipation, then begins descending the long spiral staircase of her tower.

 

"Lin," the knight dressed in blue says, her voice suddenly lowered to an urgent whisper. "Lin look over there." She's pointing in Izumi's direction. Izumi puffs out another large cloud of smoke and watches it waft through the courtyard.

Both knights approach on high alert. The one called Lin bends a piece of metal into a sword, which she wields almost as though it's weightless. Izumi is curious about the gruff woman; she's never met a metalbender before, and this one seems like an entertaining character. So does the woman in blue, whose name Izumi only catches when she sends a ball of fire hurtling through the air towards her visitors.

"Kya—!" Lin calls to her companion as they both hurry out of the way of the blast.

It was never going to land on them—Izumi's only testing, after all—but their responses are sharp and their teamwork is refreshing after the sorts of egotists who've come Izumi's way thus far.

She blasts more flames out through the gaps in the stone as she moves along the east wall. Kya responds with an impressive display of waterbending. Things start to become messier when Lin takes to ripping up the lawn and throwing blocks she takes from Izumi's walls. She's fighting like she foresees leaving this place a ruin, and while the game has been fun, it's not worth it to Izumi to trash her entire home.

She stops firing and shouts _truce_ at the top of her lungs. The knights hear her, because they pause, confused.

Izumi tucks an errant wisp of hair back behind her ear and heads out to greet her visitors properly. She may have confirmed their fighting skills, but this will be the _real_ test.

"No need for alarm," she approaches with her hands up. Izumi enjoys the smooth slide of her silken outfit over her skin as she walks, and from the way Lin drops her sword she can tell she's not the only one.

"Careful, Princess!" Kya calls out, "the dragon was just over in that directi—"

Lin rides in close to Kya just to punch her in the shoulder. "You don't think she'd have noticed that, Kya? Look at her eyes—she's a firebender. _She's_ where the fire was coming from."

So Lin is quite the detective. Kya is struggling more with the concept.

"But you're Princess Izumi," she says slowly. "Trapped in a castle guarded by a man-eating dragon."

Izumi knows that's the story that's been going around for some time now, so she can't blame the knight for believing it.

"That's what the first guy told everyone," she explains. "He'd come a long way to issue a proposal to a princess and didn't take it very well when I asked him to leave."

"So..." Kya says slowly, " _you're_ the dragon?"

"Correct." Izumi smiles. These two are already wonderful entertainment. She'd rather like to keep them, if she can.

"Then why do you stay here?"

"This is my place. And it's a remarkably difficult piece of real estate to shift—quite a way from the nearest town; lots of curse and haunting rumours, especially since my aunt lived here. But I like it, even if nobody else does."

Lin, who has been slipping chunks of the lawn back into place, glances at the massive stone structures which surround them.

She says, " _I_ like it here."

"You're welcome to stay," Izumi offers. She understands it's not a suggestion that will appeal to everyone. "To come and go, or just to visit."

"That doesn't sound like the worst idea," muses Lin. "I do like a good fortress."

"It's kind of a commitment," says Kya. "We've got so many places still to visit."

It's been a while since Izumi went out, other than to gather necessities. An idea nudges at her—one which has always seemed wild before but now holds a certain adventurous appeal. "Where are you heading?" she asks. "Perhaps I could join you? Then you may return here with me, if you wish."

Lin and Kya exchange a look.

"You can ride with me," Kya offers, patting the space behind her on her horse.

Lin glares at her companion. "I think it would be safer if she rode with me."

Izumi slots two fingers between her lips and whistles. A moment later there's the familiar sound of wings flapping.

"I've got it covered."

The knights are once again left gaping in shock.

"Is that—"

"—there _is_ a dragon here!"

Izumi rubs her pet's neck affectionately, bending fire to stroke warmth over her scales. She grins at her new friends and says, "there are two."


	7. Day Seven: Sass and Glass

"Look who's drinking with the masses." The voice comes from over Izumi's shoulder. It's low and scratchy and familiar.

"Chief Beifong," she greets her old friend as she takes a place on the stool next to Izumi at the bar.

"Please, you knew my mother under that title. Aren't we better friends than that, _Your Highness_?"

Izumi laughs at the way the words sound coming out of Lin's mouth, in a place like this. "Point taken," she says.

"What are you drinking?"

"It's got hot sauce in it."

Lin shudders in disgust. "Should have known better than to ask." She turns to the bartender; "Give me whisky, neat."

"What a gritty, hard-liquor-drinking life you do lead."

Lin snorts. "I forgot how snarky you are. I haven't seen you outside official meetings in far too long."

Izumi's glad that they can fall back into this easy banter after all this time. Since she became Fire Lord and Lin became the Chief of Police, they've both been tied down by workloads specific to their respective states.

"I'll drink to that." Lin's whiskey arrives and Izumi holds her glass out to clink against it before they both knock back long gulps. "Anyway, what brings you here tonight, Lin? It's the middle of the week."

"Celebrating a big arrest," Lin explains. "I promised some junior officers I'd buy them a round if they got the guy before a certain date. Miracle of miracles, they managed it a day early."

"And where are said junior officers?"

Lin casts a look over her shoulder, towards a table of energetic-looking men and women. "I didn't promise I'd sit with them."

The more Izumi drinks, the more heartily she laughs at Lin's dry comments. The bar is noisy, a few of the groups who wander in are rowdy, but it's just the break Izumi needs. Formality has its place, but so does relaxation. She's not dressed up, she's left her crown with the undercover guards who accompanied her here, and who are sitting far enough away that it's easy to forget they're there at all. This is as close to anonymity as she's been able to get in years; her visits to Republic City have been few and far enough between that the people here don't often recognise her outside her official context.

This train of thought is interrupted when someone leans in against the bar, close enough that they knock hard against her elbow. It's the hand she's holding her drink in, and she's thrown off balance enough that the glass actually slips out of her grasp.

A torturous split-second later glass sings out across the floor. Most of the spilt liquid has ended up on the shoes of the person who knocked Izumi. She looks up at his face and sees a rather boyish young man.

"Shit, these shoes were brand new!" he complains. He doesn't bother to step out of the puddle that remains of Izumi's drink. "I can think of a way you could make it up to me, though."

"Listen y—"

On Izumi's other side, Lin sounds ready to escort the intruder to a cell. Izumi's feeling good after a few drinks, though, and this young man clearly has no idea who he's dealing with. She stops Lin before she can make a scene.

"Please, enlighten me."

The man grins, not reading Izumi's flat tone for what it is. "Well, for starters, you could buy me a drink. And hey, do you ever take off those glasses? You'd be pretty hot without them."

And _there's_ something Izumi's heard from various people ever since she got her first pair of glasses at age six. Her patience runs dry very abruptly.

"I don't take them off, no. And I'm not interested in buying you a drink."

"C'mon, just for a second. Don't you owe me something after ruining my shoes?" He's reaching for her face and before Izumi can react her glasses are being dragged out of place.

Without them, everything so much as a foot away from her is blurry.

The blurry man beside her says, "See, I knew you'd look better like this."

"Well, now I can hardly see you," she replies coolly. "I don't know if I'm more attractive when I don't have my glasses on, but I can say for sure that you are."

It takes him a moment to follow. She can feel the anger radiating from him the moment that he understands. It's comical, how easily inflamed some young men can be (she thanks agni, and not for the first time, that Iroh didn't inherit much of the family temper).

"Who do you think you are?" he spits. "Some _old woman_ who thinks she's too good for a guy like me—I was doing you a favour coming to talk to you at all, and you think you can insult me?"

"Evidently she can," Lin puts in.

"You won't get away with that. You don't want to mess with me. I'm a master firebender. I'm a dangerous guy."

Lin laughs. "Go on and think a little harder about just who Izumi here might think she is, kid. You're slow on the uptake, but I'm positive you'll get it eventually."

"Like I care."

And with that, Izumi's about done with this conversation. She signals her guards and they stand, barring one exit. The group of metalbending officers Lin came in with notice the movement and at Lin's signal they stand to close off the other side of the bar.

"Bye," Izumi tells the young man. She doesn't need to see the look on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to those everybody read along this week. Writing some short, low-pressure high-variation prompts was a thing I definitely enjoyed, even when my brain's been a bit too scrambled to work much on my other projects. Hopefully I'll do another Something Week in the future. Hopefully you'll join me!


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